NBA Free Agency Reaction: Paul George LEAVING Clippers for 76ers? Nuggets COSTING Jokic? | NerdSesh
welcome everybody back into nerd sesh as always I’m Carson breber and alongside me is Logan Camden and it is free agency time baby the opening day hasn’t been the craziest that we’ve seen in recent years but it has been interesting nonetheless and of course the biggest fish out there from the jump Logan in this offseason has been Paul George and while we don’t have an official announcement yet on where he will be signing there is a strong indication that is going to be with the Sixers they are considered very clear Front Runners they’re meeting with him potentially as we speak they intend to offer him a 4-year $212 million deal that he is expected to accept and the Clippers are definitively done with him they have announced a mutual parting of the ways they put out a whole official statement so it looks Logan like PG is going to be a sixer which has been the expectation for a little bit now how much does that boost Philly’s Outlook as a potential title contender in your opinion to me the stamps Philadelphia is the third team out east I think it would be really hard for them to do anything to surpass New York but I think you could make an argument that maybe you like Philadelphia a little bit more than them I think I like New York’s depth at this point we’ll have to see how Philadelphia you know configures the rest of their roster to really make a judgment call on that but to me they’re stamped as a top three legitimate Contender out East I of course knew that Paul George was going to sign with Philadelphia the second uh that it was reported that his wife followed him be’s wife on social media first of all and that’s why you’re the best and that’s why you’re the best in the biz Logan dude I of course was sitting patiently at my computer waiting with baited breath to figure out who broke that news I know seriously though to the people that actually break that news how do you guys figure that out like I don’t pots I think they have it automated somehow that baffles me but the bread Trail was there very early this afternoon and of course I followed it the entire way this to me is it’s a huge game changer and when you look at how different Paul George’s role is going to be in Philadelphia that’s why I love this for him and Philadelphia both uh one he doesn’t have to be the number two anymore right I just think they were asking Paul George to go above and beyond and play Beyond his means uh in this last playoff run and with his expectations as being the number two in La one it’s been really difficult Kawai not being healthy for basically any playoff run um you’re asking PG to be your number one he’s just not equipped to do that what he is equipped to do is be your number three and play that role to absolute perfection that’s why I love this move for Philadelphia and for Paul George both I think Philadelphia is much more well equipped to contend the West is way deeper your roster you have question marks about he joins a top five player in basketball or top 10 depending on where you have Joel embiid and he joins an awesome number two in Tyrese Maxi right he can step in here and play uh the catch and shoot role he can be a tertiary ball handler and playmaker he can defend his ass off and again you’re just not expecting as much from him right he can give you an efficient 20 a night and just fill in where you need him I love this for Philadelphia I love this for Paul George like uh Philadelphia is a legit Contender man like I said we’ll have to see what they do with the rest of their roster to really determine where they stand in the hierarchy out East but this legitimizes Philadelphia as a as a real Contender and when all these teams are getting better when New York is getting better when Boston has committed to their core and have all their guys locked up you talk about this all the time Carston free agency it’s an arms race man and if you’re not getting better you were effectively getting worse and uh yeah this is a huge move for for both sides and I think it’s it’s really beneficial this legitimizes Philadelphia as as a real Contender absolutely I love it this clearly puts them in a better position than they’ve been in since 2019 that year that they lost on the Kawai crazy shot when they were pretty loaded with Jimmy and when you talk about how they match up against some of the other best teams they’re definitively in the top three out east and I can’t see anybody else surpassing them the bucks even if they have the dynamic duo can they make the moves on the periphery of the roster to improve significantly I don’t think they’re catching up to Philly because not only are we talking about a great level of Talent with these three stars now and in a matchup against the Knicks I think I would slightly prefer New York to because the depth is so absurd because they have four really good like top 60 basketball players and then four more awesome role players on top of that if they can keep Isaiah Haron Stein then that’s even more overwhelmingly the case but it’s also an intuitive fit here maxian and beid already have an excellent Twan game going they are one of the best pick and roll tandems in basketball and Abid is so dominant as a scorer he demands such ridiculous amounts of attention Maxi is one of the best guards at capitalizing on that he is one of the best spot up shooting star guards that you have in basketball he doesn’t need to be overwhelmingly ball dominant and so they just have an excellent thing going already and they’re two awesome basketball players and then PG slides in as you say as a guy who On Any Given night could give you 35 points but as a third option that’s where you’re most comfortable with him because at this stage of his career he’s not exerting the sort of consistent Rim pressure that he used to in his younger days and although he is still an efficient onb ball Creator he’s gonna score with 75th percentile isolation efficiency that’s what he did this past year excellent pick and roll efficiency actually 90th percentile there mostly just on the back of his insane pull-up shooting but he is at his best in a role that balances that and allows him to thrive off ball allows him to kill you as a spot-up shooter where he is out of this world one of the best catch and shoot players players on the planet and doesn’t put that consistent burden on him to night after night be one of your two guys offensively still a really good Wing Defender everybody’s always going to clown on PG a lot of people are but a lot of that is about expectations and it is about role and it is about him being overtasked with kawhai down for the Clippers in a lot of ways he just had a career season Logan in terms of like the net swing that you’re getting his onoff numbers like the Clippers were a dominant basketball team with on the floor his efficiency was the best of his career him thriving alongside two volume ball handlers like James Harden like kawhai he is an incredibly malleable star he’s still to me clearly one of the 25 best players on the planet and this is absolutely a big time win for Philly they needed something like this because last year even though like individually I liked some of their role players I thought that Kelly UB was bringing you awesome value defensively you don’t get a De Anthony Melton haly but I really like him Nick Batum was playing at a really high level defensively and was bringing you pretty good spot up shooting but there was just a clear lack of any sort of dynamic third offensive player on this team and so you’re doubling and beat aggressively and sometimes his playmaking is breaking down sometimes there’s just not enough offensive skill around him to punish you for that and UB was complicit in that Tobias Harris who I’m sure all Phillies fans are just so so relieved that he is gone was a major let down consistently in that department PG changed that Dynamic now you have another third really high level offensive player who can defend who brings you size who brings you length and they’ve already made some moves just in terms of building out this roster because they basically have a blank slate around these guys presuming that they do sign PG they bring in Andre Drummond on a two-year $10 million deal your backup center that’s solid that’s actually pretty good value I would say he’s at least going to bring you really highle rebounding simple play finishing solid backup big they sign Eric Gordon for one year darl Mur loves Eric Gordon clearly he always wants that man on his basketball team that’s fine I wouldn’t want him starting at the two but I think that he is a more than capable role player he’s still an awesome spot up shooter he’s still a pretty solid closeout attacker he can compete defensively at the point of attack not a bad signing seems like they’re going to let Batum walk which is UNT they’ll have to find somebody to supplement that value as a bigger Wing alongside PG they bring in Jared McCain in the draft who uh I think will be a pretty safe and pro ready guy from the jump now I think the ceiling there is pretty limited but you’re getting spot-up shooting that is going to be valuable he’s very very good there you’re getting a competitive Defender you’re getting a sound playmaker outside of the shooting there’s nothing he’s really going to do at a high level but he’s going to compete he’s going to be a pretty solid all-around contributor so we’ll see what they can do but priority number one for them always had to be getting PG it always had to be raising the ceiling to that level because even if you made good role player moves I don’t think you were going to meaningfully change the Outlook as much as you can just by adding PG so I think it was absolutely the right course of action presuming that they do get this done tonight right G out there every single night like he was giving you nothing in the playoffs and now you get somebody that’s legitimately perfectly alongside Maxi and embiid and that’s my favorite aspect of this you mentioned it you’re adding a 44% catch and shooter you’re adding a guy that while PG may have lost uh some of his athleticism right that’s just naturally gonna happen as you get older he’s grown as a decision maker and a playmaker right he’s gotten so much better at that across the years and for people who are critical of PG Carson I would almost say that I think Paul George overachieved in his time uh in La considering the circumstances like he took them to a Western Conference Finals basically by himself right with a basketball he’s ever played it was heroic right and so I don’t really put any of the that’s just clip that’s the curse of the Clippers man that is a franchise that is seemingly never going to get right I don’t put any of their shortcomings on PG uh and I also love the moves that they made on the margins man filling in that backup five spot with somebody that you at least trust to do a job simply uh you know they’re going try to Mo bomba and Paul Reed out there and backup five spots those guys are both flawed to an extent I’m a big Paul Reed guy but he’s under siiz when you’re trotting them out there at the five I I love this and again I think it’s really going to be hard for them to surpass Boston or New York but they’re there they are right there with them right they are going to be super competitive and they have improved massively from last season uh considering that Paul George was the biggest fish on the market I think up to this point Philadelphia has won the off season would you agree it’s a big win listen I don’t know if there’s only one winner out of the 30 teams but I think that they definitely are a winner I think that they’re a big winner and it’ll be interesting to see who they do try to commit to bringing back because they are going to have limited cap after this PG signing you have buddy yield hitting the open market you have Melton hitting the open market so uh they’ll have to again to me find another big forward who can play alongside PG I don’t think you consistently want him guarding fours he’s a versatile defensive player that would be the spot that I’m looking at if Eric Gordon ends up starting at your two maybe it’s not ideal as I said earlier but I also don’t think that that is the end of the world on the flip side of this Logan the Clippers ER with PG and Kawai is over and we saw a grand total of one healthy postseason with both those guys on the floor they started 2021 playoffs healthy but then as you mentioned it ended up being PG just finishing the job without Kawai they extended James Harden for two years 70 million today but they could not come to terms with PG what we heard was that they didn’t want to offer him a fourth year at a really high dollar value and that’s what PG did want and that’s what PH is prepared to offer him what do you make of them being willing to part ways and what is just your outlook on their overall State of Affairs they’re chopped Clippers are chopped I RP to me Carson I it is inexcusable that that’s where you draw the line considering all of the capital that you gave up to go and acquire him I don’t care you just can’t lose out on everything that you gave up I I you know what the the picks there’s always a certain danger that comes with the draft picks uh the gobear trade right you can point to any any Superstar trade nowadays when you give up that kind of capital it’s dangerous the cherry on top is that you lost Shay gilis Alexander right that’s the one that’s going to come back to bite you my thing Carson is that you already gave all of that Capital up so why are you afraid of committing to one more year of Paul George like you’ve effectively given up all that for nothing they had to win the title in that window where they had PG they had kawhai they had the guys they had the team you’ve effectively eliminated your Championship window and I’m not saying like I would have picked the Clippers to do any big damage or like they’re My Title front runner no the Clippers are probably somewhere in that five to eight range they’re not in the upper echelon of contenders but by not resigning Paul George you’ve eliminated any chance that you had at contention right we get caught up in playoff results and and make that the be allend all you remember Carson there was a time where we discussed on the show if the Clippers were the second or maybe favorite team out west with how they were playing at a portion of this season right there was a window of this year where they looked like they could be a title front runner or maybe the second best team out west and I think that would have been enough for me to bite hookline and sinker on giving him that fourth year again it’s it’s the fact that by Drawing the Line there you have eliminated any chance of your team contending and it just has Ripple effects right when is kawhai frustrated in Fed Up When is James Harden frustrated and fed up I think it’s a really foolish maneuver by the Clippers man because of all the capital that I gave up initially to acquire Paul George I would have given him basically any contract that he would have asked for is it going to be a bad contract in three to four years maybe that’s what you have to just accept because you gave all of that up to get PG um and I just think that their title window has effectively closed now man I think the Clippers gaffed on this I would have given PG whatever he wanted their title window is 100% closed and it was pretty darn slim already like I would have been really surprised if things came together well enough for the Clippers to win a title maybe the single biggest component in that being availability specifically of kawh Leonard as we mentioned one healthy postseason in all the years of this experiment with him and PG that held them back more than any of their slight basketball limitations we can talk about and they were awesome throughout last regular season when they cared especially you hinted at that 26- six stretch where they were just completely dominant and then end of the regular season they let their foot off the gas it’s an older team they’d already secured a top four seed they stopped defending at the level that they had been but that was a team that had overwhelming offensive skill Harden was playing extremely efficient basketball until the end of the regular season was facilitating at such a high level PG was thriving away from the ball Kawai was playing extremely efficient they were defending at quite a high level overall zoo was doing his thing on the interior both defensively and offensively Terence man you have another solid three and D Wing out there things were really clicking for that team and I never would have viewed them as the favorite out west but they’re on the short list of teams that okay if things go right if you can stay healthy which is unlikely for them but you have a puncher chance and maybe you look at that and you say okay well that’s not enough that’s not enough for us to continue to recommit to this core I would understand that if you weren’t already committed and if you weren’t already screwed cuz you’re already committed to Kawai you just recommitted to James Harden and it’s a shorter term deal right so that is obviously more favorable for you than than paying Paul George for a full four years but you’re screwed no matter what man you don’t have control over a single one of your own first round picks through 2029 you have three swaps and then you have two picks that you flat out dealt so you are going to be picking every other year in the 20s in the first round that’s all of the opportunity that you have to add young Talent through the draft so at that point it’s just your job to field as strong a basketball team as you can and I get it if you don’t want to give PG a fourth year because your situation you’re thinking okay maybe in a couple years three years we can move on from this situation no we won’t have control of our own picks just yet but whatever we can slowly move towards rebuild the one thing that you cannot allow to happen in my opinion is to just let PG walk to let him walk and not get any value for that and I understand if you’re thinking oh we don’t want to do a sign and trade with our Western Conference competitors but that doesn’t justify like haggling the Nuggets saying no mpj and a little bit of draft Capital isn’t enough like we are going to push for the absolute most draft value we can get on top of mpj who in a vacuum is a win you are getting a player in his mid 20s who immediately is a good third option for you of course he’s not as good as Paul George but you have the ability to say this is a guy who helps us win now who we believe as a top three option could actually be valuable for us down the line we could sign him to another contract if we don’t want to hold on to him he has trade value in multiple places you’re getting an asset you’re getting a real valuable asset and the fact that they were that they didn’t understand the situation and that they misplayed their hand that they overplayed their hand there to me is just frustrating and I don’t understand why you aren’t fighting to keep PG because you should be fighting to keep him but if you are of the mind that okay we just don’t want to commit to him for that long you have to find a way to get something back for your future and also for the immediate because you don’t have draft Assets Now in return for PG and you don’t have win now assets and it’s like if you do let PG walk you know you’re not winning the title there’s no path there with him it’s a real long shot without him do you really care if you’re making Denver better because your goal is just going to be to win 48 games you’re not winning the title with James Harden as your second option just too inconsistent too volatile at this stage in his career Kawai there’s no reason to expect that he is going to be on the floor for a playoff run so I wouldn’t be prioritizing my rivalries trying to milk every last asset out of the Warriors either over trying to salvage what is a bad basketball situation maybe their goal is hey we don’t want to be attached to any other contract we want to bring in Demar D rozan cheaper get him on a two-year $60 million deal or something okay I don’t necessarily hate the D rozan fit with the clippers but you’re still adding an aging star obviously he’s just not as good a basketball player as PG and the ceiling with PG is way higher the upside with dear is if you are down why he can step in as an on-ball Creator and be more of a legit second and at times first option if you are short-handed but what’s the ceiling with that it’s maybe sneaking out of the first round the ceiling with PG as your second best player maybe even your third option offensively sometimes is just much better if your goal is to contend legitimately he is essential to that and there’s no other route to me there’s no parlaying this into a rebuild it just doesn’t make sense it is a disappointing end to a disappointing era and I just think they were in a position where you had to stay all in it’s not great it’s not ideal but you made your bed and at this point you’re going to a new Arena there’s no path to recouping all the assets that you’ve given up do what you can to remain like a legitimately good basketball team and they’ll be solid next year but they won’t be as good as they could have been with PG and I think they’re going to regret not getting any assets back for him in some sort of sign and trade I completely agree I don’t have a ton to add you try to make the most competitive team possible you try to be on the fringes of contention and in the playoffs you cross your fingers and you hope and pray that something breaks your way it’s not great it’s not an enviable position you’re not going to be a title front runner it’s like it’s uh you’re telling me there’s a chance man it’s Dumb and Dumber you’re telling me there’s a chance and you need the bank all in on that chance the Crux of this Carson as you said is that you got back nothing for Paul George and the Nuggets one is a freaking conundrum to me the fact that Denver would offer you mpj and you didn’t snap at that it’s it’s foolish to me man agreed and I think some people will want to look back at this entire Clippers era and say five years what did you accomplish you made one Conference Finals you blew a 3-1 lead in the first year that’s it in terms of your playoff success I still don’t think the process of building a team around Kawaii and PG at that moment in time was bad kawhai was coming off of a dominant title run he had only up to that point had the one significant injury in his career he was playing clearly like a top three dude on the planet PG was coming off of a year in which he was third in MVP voting was playing the best basketball of his career Two Elite defensive Wings two versatile offensive players it’s just kaw’s health and we can look back and say oh well the writing was always on the wall with that but it wasn’t it really wasn’t it was just the 2018 season outside of that he had never been the most healthy guy but he had never had a significant injury it’s just been extremely downhill ever since then that’s what has done this Clippers era in more than any single uh basketball decision roster building around those guys or even shortcomings of those guys individually just the fact that the Kawai couldn’t stay healthy and that sucks for them all right another big signing of the day Logan this one is official has been for some time cavius Caldwell Pope has signed with the Orlando magic this was my favorite fit for him if he were to leave Denver three years $66 million is the deal let’s start with Orlando’s side of this how do you feel about the fit what does this do for their basketball Outlook next year this is a perfect signing for Orlando uh I think it addresses a massive need I think it’s a great fit at Great Value $22 million a year is not an overpay by any means for kcp I think that’s appropriate and I think this is stamped Orlando as a top three defense I think it’s Boston I think it’s Minnesota and I think it’s Orlando they were number two in defensive rating last season you think about the uh lineups that they can field Suggs Casey P Vagner B Caro Wendell Carter Jr Jonathan Isaac just have a lot of guys who can defend their ass off and Orlando was 30th and three-pointers made this season they were 29th and three-pointers attempted they were 24th in three-point percentage and in the playoffs they shot just 31% from behind the The Arc and the guy that was starting where kcp will start Gary Harris shot 29% from the field and shot 32% from behind the arc so when you’re just looking at going from a guy like Gary Harris to kcp you’re now getting a 40% catch and shooter a guy who shot 40% overall from deep and a tremendous point of attack Defender it’s a dream fit I still don’t love Orlando’s Avenue to easy half court offense you know I really would love if they could add that highlevel Creator um at the guard spot you know where they could run just varied lineups right with Suggs maybe at the two or kcp at the two but that guy is really hard to find and so when you can get a guy at this kind of value who is going to address a clear clear need for you who is going to upgrade your defense even more it’s a home run like this is a it’s a great fit it’s great value it’s a great basketball player that fits right in with your basketball team it’s it’s a huge get for Orlando and uh yeah it’s it’s a great it’s a great signing man I I can’t I’m not going to dress it up any more than that dude he’s a kyp is one of the best role players in basketball absolutely dude clearly somewhere between a top 75 top 100 guy on the planet just absolutely a winning basketball player through and through epitomizes the skill set that we have been touting as an NBA world as like what you want from your wings if they’re not going to be a star this is the three and D guy like he is an elite point of attack Defender he is a consistent 40% three-point shooter on top of that he’s a really good closeout attacker he is an elite transition Defender he just does so many things he plays so hard he cuts well he moves without the ball I think that Denver has definitely benefited him there that’s just such a great situation to play into incentivize ball movement and that just kind of makes him an awesome fit anywhere and this dollar value to me I am 100% comfortable with if I’m Orlando they are in a position where right now they have money to spend does this solve their biggest issue absolutely not their biggest issue is going to be that seamless half court creation it is going to be relieving Paulo and France of sort of the overwhelming duties that they have at this point getting them a real lead guard but they have time to Target that guy and ideally it’s somebody on their timeline but there are a number of dudes who may become available over the next year or two man it could be Darius Garland it could be somebody a level above that maybe they try to go out and package some assets get themselves a Trey Young Who offensively would really change the Dynamics like there’s multiple pass for them addressing that issue they have to do it but if you can significantly upgrade the Gary Harris role if you can say Anthony black who was starting early in the year didn’t even play in the playoffs but like we want somebody who brings that defensive identity and even a little bit more and just much more offensive value kcp is that dude the magic are still going to struggle to score the basketball I mean they had an offensive rating of 105 in the playoffs it was brutal they were the number 22 offense in the regular season part of that is the creation the fact that Paulo and fron can both be inefficient that neither is an elite playmaker in terms of creating for the guys around them neither of them is consistently a really good spot-up shooter but it is also the limitations of the spot-up shooting around them and so kcp just makes them significantly better in that regard and also you say that they’re going to be a top three defense absolutely there’s a case that they could be the best defense in basketball especially if they Trot out the John Isaac at the five lineup which isn’t going to be like their regular season default starting setting but in the playoffs I could absolutely see them going to that and they’re going to mix in those lineups throughout the regular season that’s crazy switchability that’s crazy size length athleticism in the front court and back court and Suggs and kcp are now right up there with Derek white and Drew holiday is the best defensive back court in the league I would still give the Celtics guys The Edge but it’s not that big of a gap on the flip side of this Logan the Denver Nuggets lose out on kcp and this was something that we discussed extensively and we said they should be doing everything possible to prevent and Tony Jones reported that the Nuggets offered something similar to this to kcp that they included a third year and that he ultimately still decided to leave how costly do you think this is for Denver it’s huge and I wonder if if he felt like disrespected by Denver initially or by the comments that the general manager made uh Calvin Booth like I you know this is just me speculating I don’t have any you know Insight or information about that but I just wonder like if it’s a similar contract this is a guy who won a title two seasons ago was a key member of that championship team I just wonder if he felt slighted a little bit like the GM came out and said Point Blank period oh yeah you know Christian Brown will step up and he can give us you know basically the same value wake up no Christian Brown cannot do that the biggest difference between these guys one I think kcp is a better Defender I’ll give Christian Brown his flowers he’s a good Defender great energy guy athletic big dude strong and the efforts off the charts man the dude just plays really hard but the biggest difference is the shot Carson how many games in these playoffs did we see Christian Brown hesitate on a three-pointer and and and that is emblematic it’s not even just the percentages right you’re losing a 40% shooter right that’s a component of it you’re losing a guy who is just confident he is going to pull that thing it scares me when that’s a problem to me Carson I’ve played a lot of pickup basketball it’s if I’m playing ball with a guy I want him to it’s on go man if you get an open look I don’t want you to think about it it should be unconscious it’s an open shot I’m a good shooter I should put it up that’s just a massive massive blow and and it’s it’s to a team that can’t really afford that uh I think that Denver was dead last in three-point attempts last season right like that’s a huge blow dude to lose a guy that is this efficient that is just willing to shoot it that is great defensively again man this is the second big loss that Denver has had rotationally since that title team initially it was Bruce Brown that happens to all championship teams you’re going to lose a good player it’s gonna happen this is number two man and Denver has not replaced either of these guys with like great rotation pieces Christian Brown can come in here and give you 75 to 80% of what kyp gives you defensively but he is not giving you anything uh that casy brings uh brings floor spacing wise and guys like this just don’t grow on trees man and I would have done whatever it was in my power to bring this guy back it is a massive loss to Denver and you know I don’t know if it moves them we talked about this briefly last episode when this was speculative I don’t know if this moves them like concretely behind them but the nuggets are getting worse and that’s just a problem when other teams out west are getting better man this is a it’s a massive blow to Denver’s Championship hopes it is and when you’re speculating about if kcp feels slided I could see that obviously the emotional aspect of this these guys being human beings you can’t underestimate like we’re hearing a lot of talk about clay taking the mid-level exception to go play for the Lakers because he feels disrespected by the dubs who were offering him $20 million a year more like that’s not a rational decision right if you’re offended about the financial aspect of it but people aren’t rational if they feel slighted who knows what they’re liable to do I do think there’s a couple more concrete rational elements to the logic behind this decision potentially though number one he’s from Georgia so he’s way closer to his family but more obviously and maybe more significantly just he’s really going to pocket a couple more million dollars a year like that contract may look the same on paper but you don’t have any state income tax in Florida so effectively you are getting a couple a few million dollars more a year but it’s devastating for the nuggets and I would have gone a little bit higher man I wouldn’t have just gone similar I would have tried to Top This I would have gone 375 like I would have been comfortable paying kcp at that clip this nuggets starting five has been the best unit in basketball for the last couple years we’re talking about plus 13 net rating they are a machine they have the perfect formula and again it kind of got disrupted by the Timberwolves who had really good Personnel to disrupt it and their spot up shooting let them down if mpj and kcp just did their jobs better things could have been different if Jamal Murray just did his job better was better as a shot maker things could have been different I still think it’s a really great balance of on andof ball Talent kcp fits the system so well as a spot-up shooter as a cutter and he’s vital as a point of attack Defender so how do you supplement all that value because I do think you can replenish a good bit of the defensive value with Christian Brown there’s so much I like about about Christian Brown he’s an athlete he’s a competitor he defends he cuts I think he’s a smart young basketball player he’s a winner right he won it Kansas he’s a dog and he can shoot not like kcp but he can knock down open jumpers the biggest problem is the tentativeness Logan in 31 career playoff games Christian Brown is six of 28 from three that’s obviously a really bad percentage but over that sample size you’re not necessarily just freaking out about that it’s the frequency man he’s taking under a three a game and consistently hesitates consistently passes up on those looks I’m not saying that he can’t get over that but he’s got to grow up fast man that’s the thing with all these options because it’s gonna be Christian Brown pyton Watson’s awesome defensively he is just significantly further away as a shooter cannot start him it has to be brown and I really like Julian Strather and the vision with him was okay he’s going to fit our system he is an awesome spot-up shooter he’s great shooting off movement he cuts he has good feel he can handle a little he’s a very solid Defender but he is not even in your playoff rotation this past year so it’s just to me the concern that you’re over tasking these guys that you’re saying okay we like you as young players but now third year Christian Brown just like figure out all of your offensive issues and replace the value of a top 75 80 whatever you think kcp is basketball player Julian Str we need you to do some of the same like I still think Denver needs to make make a move and it doesn’t look like they’re going to they’re not really in the Klay Thompson conversations right now that would have to be a sign and trade Gary Trent Jr is a guy who I think you can at least replenish the offensive value I mean Gary Trent Jr is an insane shooter you’re not getting back the defensive value of kcp Could you actually upgrade offensively though with Clay yeah I mean a shooter of that caliber at that size in Denver system without the burden of being a second or even third option I think clay would Thrive offensively Gary Trent Jr lights out lights out from Beyond The Arc and when engaged he’s a solid Defender you’re going to lose something defensively no matter what though and that’s going to be a problem because kcp was the best option by far to take on those guard matchups you’re going to lose some quickness on the perimeter if you do go an option other than brown and if Brown is the plan then you’re just losing some real offensive value and if they don’t do anything if they just sit on their hands then they are actively falling behind man and I don’t even know that I point at any team out west and say okay they’ve surpassed them because the thunder right now are sitting on their hands I don’t like what they’ve done the Mavs they made a move today but they’re just not as talented a basketball team like maybe this doesn’t sink Denver’s hopes of winning the west but it definitely knocks them down a Peg and the standard is Boston you got to find a way to beat the Boston Celtics and you look at other teams out west I mean out east I should say they’re just continuing to add Firepower and Denver is sitting here and they are unfortunately getting worse and I just don’t think there’s any world in which they would look back at that kcp contract three years from now and say we regret that I think that stability would be so so valuable just knowing what you’re getting that tonight I know that he had a rough playoff run went cold shooting he was hurt as well he’s a really good basketball player and at 31 I don’t see him dropping off in the next three years so we’ll see what Denver does I think that they should still absolutely be looking to address the two I don’t think they intend to it doesn’t sound that way I hope that they bring in Russell Westbrook who opted in with the clippers but there’s talks they want to trade him I think that he would bring value as a bench ball handler which they need because they let Reggie Jackson go it’s just not the right way to build around an all-time great talent in my opinion you put together the starting five that was amazing and once you have that in place you have to do everything you can to retain that and I don’t know if they current understands the gravity right the guy that put this together was Tim Connelly now general manager of the Minnesota Timberwolves right so I don’t know if there’s a philosophical difference but you’re exactly right it’s not only that uh Denver is being complacent during free agency it seems that they are content that there there there’s almost a an a confidence or an arrogance about Denver that they’re like oh no we don’t have to bring back kcp and I like some of the young guys too like you bring up strawther the thing uh the stat about strawther that was crazy during the draft process was not only is a lights out shooter great closeout attacker he was a 99th percentile spot up player in college but again you’re asking these guys who were second and third year guys to just take these massive leaps out of nowhere that there’s no indication that they are ready to do this sort of thing and my big concern Carson you talk about how you don’t know if there’s any other teams that can definitively leap frog them you know as the number one team out west that’s not even really my concern it’s just the straight matchups that Denver is going to draw in these playoffs you’re G to have to defend Luca and Kyrie you’re G to have to defend Anthony Edwards you’re gonna have to defend Shay gild just Alexander who is that guy and if it’s Aaron Gordon are you big enough around him you know where you’re losing that in the front Court I’m I don’t know man the alarm bells are going off for me on Denver and I think they need to wake up I think they need to realize the gravity of this free agency period and they need to make move I’m going to go ahead and I’m going to say it Russell Westbrook to me is not the solution I am still skeptical again he’s need a bench ball handler and I don’t think it’s Jaylen ticket he didn’t play this past year can we hash this out for a minute because you have been one of the biggest Russell Westbrook Skeptics for a long time and we have been waiting for so long for the light bulb moment to go off right the Eureka I I I’m a role player I need to do my job why are you confident that he’s going to figure it out like we’ve seen him in winning situations and I understand that Bench ball handler is a need for Denver my question to you is how is this going to be any different from the Russell Westbrook that we have seen over the past couple years why are you confident that he’s not going to shoot you in the foot and make boneheaded decisions in playoff games like we have grown accustomed to he’s not going to be on the floor in any of the most important minutes the game I mean Logan Beggars can’t be choosers and of course I’ve been skeptical and critical of Russ but we’re talking about holding him to an entirely different standard we’re talking about him being viewed as a star him being viewed as one of the best players in the league MVP that’s when I’ve been critical of a lot of his shortcomings when you’re talking about him versus Jaylen picket like who is going to be the Bench ball handler it’s a massive massive hole in this roster at this point that needs to be addressed and also I do want to be clear I do think that Russ has changed with the Clippers I think that he’s embraced his athleticism away from the ball as a cut or more I think that in the postseason he’s embraced the defensive end of the floor more the biggest problem and there’s no fix in this problem is that he’s still just a brutal shooter of the basketball and like it was disgusting in this series this year against the mats absolutely gross he was basically unplayable but when he has the ball in his hands and he’s pushing in transition and you get the playmaking value that’s when he’ll be at his best and that’s what you need him for it’s not more than 12 minutes a game it’s just can he be better than Reggie Jackson was and I think that because of the fact that at least you have the athletic imposition from him instead of Reggie just taking bad shots taking tough shots I’ll take the athlete I’ll take the the playmaker you don’t need much man you just need somebody who can be capable you’re not gonna find another Bruce Brown and I want to give Calvin Booth credit because like yes Tim Connelly put most of this roster into place but it was Calvin Booth who went out added Bruce Brown it was Calvin boo who went out added Casey P unfortunately it’s also Calvin boo who has lost both those guys and Bruce Brown was different right he got paid an exorbitant amount of money to leave they were never going to be able to pay him that kcp is the one where it’s more frustrating because the numberers just totally reasonable that he ends up leaving for so so much of this stuff out west is going to be matchup dependent we’ll see how Denver finishes this off season when I think about specifically how they Faire against Minnesota I now think that they are worse off absolutely I think that they struggle to defend more now in that matchup and Aaron Gordon ended up being probably the best option to guard ant anyways but now you’re losing an option to guard ant in kcp now you’re downsizing especially if you have to have well actually Christian Brown guarded ant well so okay you can supplement that value but it’s the offensive inconsistency that concerns me there because if Minnesota is able to double joic as aggressively as they did this past year and you already weren’t holding them accountable enough as Shooters yikes and also it’s as you say like Denver is less dependent on shot variants offensively than anybody else in basketball which is a good thing because they create such high shot quality in and around the paint with cutting with jokic’s postup dominance with Jamal’s touch shot making mid-range game but you want to have some sort of three-point shooting ceiling man like when you’re already last in attempts and you lose one of your three best by far three-point Shooters that’s not good so they are taking a step back I thought that this team was clearly co-title favorite this past year with Boston I picked them to win the title and I thought at some point you know they’re gonna get another one their offensive formula is too reliable joic is too great this starting five is too well constructed you put them head-to-head against Boston it’s a really tough matchup for Boston because they don’t have anything to do with joic and now it’s like yeah I just think the Boston Talent Advantage would be too significant and that’s really disappointing for Denver you have one of the 15 greatest players to ever play the game of basketball certainly in terms of peak in my opinion you can’t let valuable winning guys go I think that they’ve been too Blas I think that they’ve been too content to let kcp walk from the jump they’ve communicated that and it’s disappointing to me okay let’s talk about a big move that went down not actually today not a free agency move but a big trade deante Murray is going to the New Orleans Pelicans and the Hawks will get in return a 2025 Lakers first a 2027 pick swap Larry n Jr and Dyson Daniels how do you feel about this for New Orleans Logan it’s an upgrade but I I don’t love the value that that New Orleans gave up uh you know I think D jante is going to be a better option at the two guards you needed somebody who can defend on the perimeter you need somebody who can handle the Rock it’s not a perfect fit I’m not in love with the jante game he frustrates me as a shooter I just I kind of have an issue with New Orleans giving up Dyson Daniels in two first I just I I like Dyson Daniels as a player again maybe it doesn’t fit this timeline maybe you want to accelerate this and that they definitely improve but I do like Dyson Daniels as a young Prospect and I don’t love them giving up two first round picks I give them like a c this is like a C+ move to me and the only reason I say that like yes the Pelicans are getting better because they got a more talented player but this really doesn’t move the needle like at all for me with with New Orleans like I think they need like a high-end Creator and it sucks man your options aren’t going to be great every offseason that player just doesn’t magically become available every off season so I’ll give New Orleans props for going and doing something and trying to improve which I definitely think they did by acquiring D jante this just doesn’t really move them into any other tier of team to me this doesn’t make them like a legitimate Contender to me this doesn’t you know thrust them into a different tier of team so credit to them for improving but again this this is just not a major major needle mover for me not at all I don’t even think I would give them a C+ and I’m interested if this means that bi is on the move because that was initially my thought hasn’t happened yet we’ve heard some rumors if bi is not on the Move then I really don’t like this because Zion has made it clear he is your building block he is your foundational piece and I understand if you have questions about the health but the value that he has as just one of the most dominant Rim pressuring forces we’ve ever seen just by far surpasses what you’re getting from anybody else on this team and what’s the best vision for building around Zion it’s having a couple of awesome three Indie Wings alongside him it’s having one really skilled lead ball handler who can create high shot quality for the guys around and who can ideally knock down shots off the catch at a high level as well take advantage of those Zion kickouts and then at the five you want somebody who can really hold things down as a rim protector defensively ideally switch and guarden space best case scenario the guy could space the floor as well so you don’t have Zion and a non- shooting big maybe you don’t need that though okay maybe we call that the cherry on top adding de jante just moves them further away from that Vision the vision was we got to split up CJ and bi neither of them are good enough to be our consistent number one from the perimeter both of them struggle athletically to create high quality shots so you end up with these two guys taking a lot of tough jumpers CJ had a really good season he upped his three-point frequency versus mid-range frequency from the previous year that made him more efficient but in the playoffs it’s like yeah the shot quality from both of them is tough I would just rather be closing with herb and Trey muray on the floor just one of those guys out there and then a center who is significantly better than Jonas valent chunes so now this team that has already been clunky offensively where it’s like the bi Zion fit just doesn’t work you’re introducing another guy who needs the ball in his hands who is a low efficiency scorer multiple points below League average in terms of true shooting percentage not a lead playmaking guard not going to solve those issues in terms of excellent decision making within the offense somebody who is just going to be making high level pick and roll reads right taking on that sort of singular responsibility to create for everybody around him and although Deonte has improved as a three-point shooter in terms of both volume and efficiency this past year that’s been a concerted point of focus for him he’s still pretty middling there and he is certainly not at the level of like a Trey Murphy right so if I’m taking Trey Murphy off the floor who’s the better Defender the better shooter to add another guy when I’m not getting additive ball handling value and shot making value because I already have dudes who are like mediocre stars in that regard like what am I doing if your plan isn’t to trade bi then this is just more time with the ball in the hands of these me stars who we call stars because they’re raw production but they’re not necessarily more impactful than an awesome 3 and D guy and less time with those dudes on the floor and maybe the outlook on that changes a bit if Dent just like awesome defensively right if he gets back to the level he was at in his role playing Spurs days I don’t know though man he’s been uh regressed there for several years and I think that as he remains in a high volume role offensively it’s not going to be like the point of emphasis for him I don’t know that it’s going to be a major point of Pride I think that he could bounce back a bit from where he was in Atlanta partly just by being in a better situation defensively but I don’t think that he’s going to be like the kind of guy who you want as your number one point of attack Defender taking these awesome Wings off the floor so I just don’t think this solves their issues in fact I think it actually takes them further away from the ideal build around Zion it’s clunky it’s weird I don’t like it very much I agree and to add some numbers that uh you’re talking about with the jumpers like he shot 37% on jump shots last season he shot 32% on pull-up threes he shot 20% on step back threes like he’s not an elite floor spacer in in a lot of ways Carson I think get traded for the wrong Hawks guard look man if you’re going to go and swing like I don’t know I’m going to pull all my resources everything that I can and I’m gonna throw the kitchen sink in Atlanta to try to get Trey young because I think that works that addresses your biggest need to me like if it involves me giving up Brandon Ingram and Daniels in picks I’m okay with that like I think Trey and Zion would just be an overwhelming amazing foundation and you’re talking about the three iny Wings herb Jones and Trey Murphy compliment and do exactly what you need them on the backside for Zion and Trey I just think that is the ideal fit and I am under the inclination that Atlanta is going to move off of a lot of their win now assets like Trey they already moved off to jante if Trey’s next I just feel like New Orleans whiffed and they missed out man on the sweep Stakes if that’s what comes next I think we’re going to look back at this deal and go why didn’t you guys try to go even more Allin and go and get the better asset um that’s how I feel I just feel like they traded for the wrong guard the wrong Atlanta Hawks guard yeah dude and I think that what we were hearing about like Dante being viewed as the more valuable asset by some League front offices I think that was horeshit dude I mean this Hall are you kidding me Trey would never get moved for this Hall so thank God NBA JMS actually do understand who the way better guard in that back court is it is Trey young because the offensive Foundation you would have would be insane so I don’t know if tre’s available if he’s not then I pray for him man cuz he is in such a shitty situation the Hawks just won 36 games they traded flawed as he may be I mean I love Jaylen Johnson I couldn’t say that Jaylen Johnson was their second best player last year I would still say that that’s deante okay so you traded clearly one of your three best players and you got really minimal win now assets in return so you’re only going to be worse I guess you could be a little bit healthier but like the Hawks are far far away man and I get it Trey’s pretty young he’s going to be 26 at the start of the Season though and like your foundational pieces are multiple years younger than that it’s Jaylen Johnson it’s re aay I would just so much rather see him in a situation where he can contribute to like a legitimately awesome offense pair him with some Dynamic front Court play finisher who like wants that sort of spoon Fe spoonfed playmaking that Trey provides again we’re dipping into theoreticals here but I’m with you dude and New Orleans has the draft Capital to dish out dude they have lots and lots of draft capital and uh you give up bi to make the contracts match up to give Atlanta something back right at least a star player who’s reasonably young I don’t know if there was something to work with there but deante to me he is not the guy okay but Logan when I mention Trey I mentioned getting Trey on the move the the option that I always salivate over is him going going to San Antonio and playing with wemi the Spurs have gone another direction for now though and they have signed the point God CP triz himself on a one-year 11 million deal how do you like Chris Paul going to San Antonio I like it I mean you get somebody competent to run the offense like Chris Paul obviously has fallen a very far away from where he was even back in the Suns title run um he’s just way more significantly limited athletically uh as a shot maker in terms of creating separation and creating actual advantages but oh my god dude the Spurs offense last season was hey Wendy just go out there and figure it out man uh we’re just gonna and in a lot of ways was like we’re gonna make life harder on you we’re gonna run Jeremy Sohan at the point and this is a guy that is just gonna make great decisions he’s going to be a great pick and roll partner with wemi he’s going to spoon you talk about spoon feeding guys easy looks Chris Paul is one of the greatest masters of all time like in terms of overall outlook for the San Antonio Spurs I still don’t think they’re a playoff team in the west but it gives the Spurs a older Mentor who can come in here and help these young guys come along their ways in terms of development he can lead this locker room he can be he can be a real leader for this team I like that aspect culturally how he fits in with the locker room and the young guys and on the court it gives wemi a competent competent ball handler who is going to make crisp good decisions and set him up for easy looks like Chris Paul may not be the pick and roll partner he once was he’s still a good pick and roll partner with weni and uh yeah I think it’s gonna make I think it’s gonna make the San Antonio Spurs a little more watchable next season um and it’s going to give wimy somebody that he can actually trust with the ball in their hands offensively and it’s not bad value 11 million I like this deal I like this deal for San Antonio yeah I thought that maybe they would have had to overpay a little bit more I thought maybe they would have had to attach a second year on there CP3 dude he’s being hella chill I mean he let the Warriors postpone the date at which his contract became guaranteed he had no incentive to do that he just gave up $30 million and said no it’s fine you guys want to try to dangle me in sign and trades that’s good so he lost $20 million taking this deal and uh it’s reasonable I I think that it’s great for San Antonio there’s no downside to this I do think that they are in a spot where you want to be proactive building around wemi I think wem’s that exceptional I think wemi is already one of the easily 20 best basketball players on the planet he’s knocking on the door of top 15 the guy’s insane and with the progression rate that he is at there’s no reason to believe that he will not be a top 10 player by the end of next year like the top 10 is really loaded but I don’t know man it is insane the player that he was in November compared to the player that he was at the end of the regular season and when you just think about what the most capable version of the Spurs was last year when Trey Jones and wemy played together you had, 1300 minutes huge sample size they had a plus 4.3 net rating they were a legitimately good basketball team just when you put him on the floor with an actual point guard and who is CP3 he’s Juiced up Trey Jones at this point right those those are two guys who aren’t super comfortable shooting from Beyond The Arc they’re limited athletes right they’re smaller guards but what can they do they make phenomenal decisions they take phenomenal care of the basketball they hit you in their spot in your spots they control the game obviously CP3 is better than Trey Jones but at this stage in his career like that’s the archetype and he’s an upgraded version of it and wemi as remarkable as his skill set is isolating ball handling creating from the perimeter is all always at his best to me when you’re using him as a screener his most efficient play type this past year was as a pick and roll rle man he’s a freaking transition as well there’s a lot of stuff he does that’s absolutely freakish but when you use him as a screener and he’s either popping or he’s rolling and he is like the single most massive Target around the rim and you can manufacture looks for him as an accurate LW passer as a good decision maker that’s where he’s going to thrive that’s where he’s going to be set up to succeed and cb3 is a short-term solution in that mold and as you mentioned culture building right teaching these guys how to win maybe mentoring Stefan castle like I only see positives for this with the Spurs there’s no downside money is of no import to them they don’t have to rush things doesn’t have to be this year that you immediately take the leap around wemi I like it okay Logan this is not a signing but it is a significant rumor and it’s an interesting one to discuss Chris Haynes reported that the Bulls offered the Warriors Speaking of Chris Paul Zack LaVine in exchange for CP3 and Andrew Wiggins and the Warriors said no to that they decided instead to wave Chris Paul obviously and allow him to go sign with the Spurs do you think that that was a mistake by the dubs yes yes I mean I think it’s a massive misstep by The Warriors the biggest thing to me is that in this hypothetical trade you wouldn’t have to give up Jonathan kaminga in a lot of ways you were giving up to negative con like negative assets Chris Paul on that kind of money nobody wants Andrew Wiggins on that kind of money nobody wants and Carson oh my gosh dude how many times have I mentioned through free agency and all this stuff we’ve talked about that the one idiotic front office that you could do a deal with is Chicago Chicago’s the dumbest front office in basketball of course they would offer this deal to Golden State I don’t see any upside for what they were trying to do and yeah you can be disappointed with what Zack LaVine gave you last season he only played 25 games he got injured the Bulls were significantly better with him off the floor when they had Kobe white take over that’s that LaVine is still a damn good basketball player that gives you exactly what you need again man Wiggins to me is a zero with how much money he is making Chris Paul as an asset is a zero with how much money he was making and I don’t love Zack lavine’s contract either right you’re going to be paying this guy 40 plus M what if we on Carson over the last couple episodes what the Warriors need to do capitalize on the window that you have now and so effectively you would be giving up to negative assets for a player that fits exactly what you need another ball handler another scorer who can create advantages for himself and score in isolation a guy that can compliment Steph Curry off ball and shoot the pill Zack LaVine is not a you know a miracle worker he is not a he’s not going to fix all of the Warriors issues I don’t really know if there’s any player that you could immediately plug into Golden State and I go wow this is it all of their issues are solved it’s about fixing them one at a time and Zack LaVine is a very valuable archetype that you need right now you desperately need another number two scorer alongside step that can just help alleviate the pressure off of his shoulders and so what have you done now you’ve apparently just let an asset walk that somebody was interested in and you haven’t solved that issue at all I don’t know what the Warriors are doing Carson if LaVine was on the table I just think that is a massive massive misstep I don’t think Zack LaVine is a cur all I don’t think he is the perfect asset I don’t think he makes the Warriors a legit Contender uh you know the likes of Denver or Oklahoma City but he addresses a need and you weren’t going to give up that much value to go and get the guy I if this report is true this might be the biggest gaap of this offseason thus far man I don’t know how you don’t jump all over that trip yeah obviously plan a for the dubs had to be Paul George right like that’d be a perfect fit offensively he would immediately bring plus value defensively he’s a way better player than isack LaVine but once the sign and trade talks fell through there you have to take what you can get and at this point as I’ve said innumerable times you’re doing a disservice to Steph Curry if you aren’t trying to put a winning basketball team around him I think people are too low on LaVine right now and that’s somebody who his historically not the biggest Zack LaVine guy right because this is sort of the trend with these things dudes come out they put up big numbers and if they play a style where the highlights are as electric as they are with Zack LaVine people say whoa whoa whoa that guy’s really good then they say hold on a second is that guy a very good playmaker is that guy a very good Defender why isn’t his team winning why isn’t his team better with him on the floor that guy actually sucks I don’t want anything to do with that guy and the truth tends to be somewhere in the middle Zack LaVine is still just 29 years old he is still one of the most gifted athletes in the NBA he is still one of the best pure shooters in the NBA and am I optimistic about teaching a pretty old dog new trick saying okay Zack we need you to consistently engage defensively we need you to embrace a new offensive system be extremely active moving without the ball I mean he’s amazing movement shooter we’ve seen stretches where like he’s using his athleticism as a cutter as well but it would require him reframing his basketball mindset and really committing going all in on doing he can to contribute to winning like maybe that doesn’t work out but what the hell is Andrew Wiggins at this point man you’re not getting 2022 Andrew Wiggins back there were many many stretches of this past season where it was difficult to watch Andrew Wiggins he was so inconsistent as a shooter he was not the defender that he was a couple years ago just overall as a contributor like really did not move the needle LaVine provides a level of offensive punch that is essential you cannot keep running back these lineups that are step two non-shooters potentially three non-shooters if you’re talking about kaminga draymont and a big and now you’re letting Klay walk too which is good you don’t want to overpay Clay I get it you have to replace him with something though man like there’s a lot of negatives with Klay Thompson in the Warrior situation specifically where he feels empowered emboldened to be like the number two option I’d be more confident about him going somewhere else with reset expectations in Denver I’m the fourth option in LA with the Lakers I’m a mid-level exception guy he gets that with the Warriors he doesn’t get that he still thinks I’m Klay Thompson I’m the splash brother I can shoot whatever the hell I want that’s frustrating and when he’s an average Defender it’s additionally frustrating but by God man at least he can make shots like you’re just gonna let him walk and you’re not going to get anything back and LaVine obviously would be a significantly better second option than clay he is an actual second option and so then you still have your issues right okay you still don’t have a lot of offensive skill around those guys you still are lacking in ball handling and especially losing CP you’re lacking ball handling Off the Bench you are still lacking in size there’s a lot of things you would need to figure out but you’d be better and as much as anything dude what is running it back gonna do for you you know what you are as a basketball team you know all your limitations you know exactly what the ceiling is why would you ever be content with that and Zack lavine’s contract it’s not good I wouldn’t want to take it on right I wouldn’t want to be paying him $45 million three years from now but if you want to have Steph Curry three years from now then you might as well dude because it’s like when is the perfect option coming down the line when is the option where it’s like oh yes we have the assets you have multiple bad contracts on the books not as much anymore with CP3 off the books like Wiggins it’s not egregious but I don’t really know who wants to take him on even at like 25 plus million dollars a year when’s the perfect option coming it’s not and I would have taken Zack LaVine because of that well Carson at this point like can we question if the Warriors even want to be legitimately competitive like there’s been so they have waited so long to make something happen that it’s like do you guys even care about the last years of Stephen Dre are you guys just waiting until they’re gone and then it’s like okay now it’s rebuild time we just wasted three to four years of Stephen Dr and again man like we have said time and time again if that is what you were waiting on to just go into full rebuild mode then freaking trade Steph and trade Dre and get it done with man like it just it’s disheartening to me watching them waste one of the greatest point guards and one of the greatest players of all time and one of the greatest Defenders to ever play this game and you are wasting good years of these guys letting them go to waste it’s it’s beyond frustrating and again Carson I just question if this team actually wants to be competitive and win another title yeah or even make an attempt well yeah they’re not listen they’re not going to win another title and I don’t want to present it as if that’s in the cards I don’t think that was in the cards with PG I damn sure don’t think it’s in the cards with Zack LaVine but it’s unfair to Steph Curry to be conceding to be trying to save money on the margins you’re not even thinking about future assets here right Andrew Wiggins is not a future asset you could have just objectively gotten a significantly better basketball player who you would have to pay a little bit more and by the way you’d be clearing some things up getting rid of Wiggins because like the front cord with kaminga Andre and Wiggins all in there it’s weird it’s too weird at this point adding a dynamic offensive two would be one of the best things that you could do and you can just look at the last several years of asset management from the Warriors and you have disaster after disaster after disaster man I mean God bless them for winning the title in 2022 God bless Andrew Wiggins and Jordan P for being by far the best version of themselves we’ve ever seen but guess what that led to P overpaid Wiggins overpaid P then traded at all-time low value for Chris Paul who a year later you wave Andrew Wiggins you try to get anybody to take on you can’t and more than anything it’s the two timelines notion I’m not going to go through the whole Spiel again but if you had packaged the picks that were Wiseman kaminga Moody for a pascal seak for a Bradley Beal at that time when he was still like a real star- level basketball player for an OG Obi not even all those picks necessarily you’d be in a significantly better position at this point you would have been not the title front run of the past couple years but a legitimately good playoff team people focus in on wisan and they say what a bad pick what a terrible pick that cost them obviously yeah terrible pick but they never should have been picking in the first place they should have dealt him for a win now asset the notion that you’re going to draft multiple times in the lottery over two years years while your best player in franchise history is in his 30s and your second and third most important players are in their 30s and you’re not just going to draft those guys you’re going to draft projects wisman was a project Kingo was a project it’ll blow my mind until the day that I die so that’s how you squander uh the late Prime of an all-time great basketball player the Warriors aren’t going to suck well I don’t know maybe they will kind of suck if they don’t replenish losing Clay’s not even that good dude like I mean the stuff that we’re talking about at this point around Steph it’s just unfair to him they’ll be a a mediocre to above average basketball team but you know who’s better than that Logan is the Oklahoma City Thunder who in a lot of ways are sort of in pole position to emerge as the front runner out west with Denver potentially regressing a little bit losing kcp and interestingly they haven’t been active on the market but they declined the team options for both Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins they could have had both those guys for year at like $2 million a pop they declined that extra year at really cheap value and they’re hoping to extend both of those players what do you think about OKC taking that approach and potentially limiting their ability to sign additional players this off season I I think it’s kind of a dumb Gamble and the reason I say this is again you talk about the money that is invaluable that extra year that is so crucial with these young guys the the fact that you can pay them Pennies on the dollar for their actual value these are guys that provide elite elite shooting on the wings Wiggins also provides an element defensively that Joe doesn’t have but they both are Elite Shooters and so I understand the idea of trying to resign them on a value contract that is going to benefit you in three to four years right if you can resign them now at I don’t know maybe like 10 to 15 million in three to four years those contracts are going to be great to me it’s just not worth it letting them go on the open market and potentially going to other teams that I mean these are really valuable guys right shooting is at an all-time valuable High I assume that teams that just need shooting would throw bags at these guys and also the other aspect of this is one like you said you can go and resign another you can go sign another guy on a bigger contract because they’d be making less money the worst problem to me Carson is that these would be really valuable trade assets just period if you took their team options and paid them cheaply one you have them under control for this next year which allows you to dangle them in front of teams and go hey we can’t pay we can’t pay Aaron Wiggins we have too many young guys that we need to pay what are you gonna give them for me are you gonna give me a first are you gonna give me a guy who’s on a contract already same goes for Isaiah Joe hey this is a valuable asset right now we can’t pay him what do you guys want to give me for him and you have a a long-term guy for the next three to four years I don’t really understand this Carson I would have accepted the team options and I would have probably explored trading one of the other um I to me it’s just not worth the gamble that you could lose these guys for nothing and the fact that you’re just going to have to pay them more money this next season I would just have accepted the the team deal that to me seems like the no-brainer yeah I agree and uh these are two really good role players I wouldn’t say that Wiggins is an elite shooter the percentage would say that I think his willingness to take them like he’s not a really high volume shooter but he’s a good shooter he’s an awesome all-around role player the athleticism the cloes out attacking the defense I love me samaron Wiggins but it’s just counterintuitive to me because you could have had another year with really good basketball players on dirt cheap contracts and Calvin Booth talks about great teams need to find a way to replace the fourth guy the fifth guy referring to letting kcp walk in that situation I don’t agree but what’s really true is the guys you need to be willing to let walk are your sixth guy your seventh guy and as much as you like isaa Joe and Aaron Wiggins they’re like Diamonds in the Rough they’re great value finds they’re sort of the cherry on top and you do need to be willing to accept that okay we’re not going to be able to keep these guys forever like maybe they can get that team-friendly deal I don’t know if you are paying these guys like 10 million a year you get them for three years on that hey that would be fantastic I don’t don’t think they’re going to get them for that cheap though and even then like I’d probably just be trying to get Wiggins I would probably just be trying to get one of the two to maintain the utmost flexibility and it’s not going to inhibit them from like signing Isaiah Haren Stein this year even if they pay both of these guys 10 million they’d still have like damn near 30 million in cap I mean they just have an absurd amount of flexibility but in terms of long-term flexibility in terms of the potential to get like both a hartenstein and if they were to trade for a Lowry Markin and whatever it does to some extent limit your course of actions I don’t think it’s disastrous from OKC but these are the sort of dudes who you have to be prepared to replace and leaning in to this identity leaning into what worked and got you the one seed I can understand but you have to look at why it is so effective and then you have to be willing to understand your shortcomings the biggest shortcoming being the lack of a legitimate four alongside Chad holgren who can bring physicality who can hold down the defensive glass they want to bring in Isaiah hartenstein seems that’s where their eyes are that’s good with me because you have to do something but the ideal outcome would have been a Denny of Dia the ideal outcome would be prying Lowry marinin away from the Jazz which I do think they have the assets to do even though Utah apparently doesn’t want to trade him and so I just don’t love the way that they’ve approached this offseason sort of start to finish and the draft I like getting topic because I I love topic but I don’t think that he was at the biggest position of need yes they want more offensive skill and playmaking because that let them down around SGA but again they didn’t look at that bigger forward spot then they draft Dylan Jones they trade a bunch of seconds to get Dylan Jones which I think is a reach and again is not going to feel that specific need he can rebound really well positionally he’s big he’s thick as hell he’s 240 but he’s 65 and he’s another ball Handler playmaker I just don’t love it man it feels to me like they are maybe a bit too confident in this goddess to the one seed we don’t need to address this going forward when it’s like yeah you’re really really good you’re in a position to like maybe be a dynasty right I mean you not only have great players who are extremely young and you have a bunch of them and you have a bunch of cap you have a bunch of assets you have a bunch of draft Capital you can trade like there’s no reason for you to not emerge even if it’s not this year a year from now as like the front runner in the entire league and I just haven’t really understood their approach to this offseason so far so again it’s like you kind of look around and who’s winning the Boston Celtics are winning man because every team that’s in position to catch up isn’t doing so at this moment yeah and one I just don’t understand with all of these resources the abundance of resources that you have it just makes sense to go push your chips in on the table and make that move right now man just go ahead and do it also not don’t they draft topic who topic isn’t going to play this year topic Tores ACL he’s goingon to miss the entire season so he doesn’t even help you like immediately and again it’s not that I hate the pick but like I loved getting I love the idea of getting like a Tristan D Silva or like you said man moving that 12th pick and getting Denny I’m always just four teams trying to make the best win now moves and I think there were a lot of moves on the table and are still on the table for Oklahoma City I just don’t think they maximized their uh their resource their resources to this point but there’s definitely it seems like a an extreme lack of urgency from from Oklahoma City look if you resign these guys on good value contracts you maintain control of them for a couple more years you maintain the ability to trade them down the line I get it I’m just waiting to see okay what is the dollar value because if it is 15 I I don’t think you can be paying both these guys and I’m not sure that I’d be paying one of them like this year man you could win the title this year if you played your cards right Larry Larry is the one that I’m always going to look at hartenstein is good it’s not nearly as good as Larry Markin and so we’ll see what OKC does obviously they’re going to be awesome next year no matter what but it’s a question of how meaningful is that Improvement and as much as we can like both Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins in the playoffs ultimately they both let you down they both struggled as shot makers you could roam on off of especially Wiggins they certainly weren’t making a difference in the series that you needed to win uh this just broke Kelly UB signed a two-year 16.3 million deal to reup with the 76ers oh I like that I like that man what was the dollar value per year again dude like eight mil a year 16.3 over two years boy good deal that’s a good deal man I thought that Kelly had a really good season pretty much start to finish and you can have some frustrations with his consistency as a spot up shooter but like you’re getting a really good athlete and uh you’re getting a really awesome point of attack Defender you just think about the fists that he gave Jaylen Brunson man that sort of length and athleticism and Agility like what does he have 73 Wings span at 67 and he can take on any guard he’s that quick he guards that well in space I love it I love it I think it’s a great pickup too and I mean there’s just versatility right if you want to play him alongside you know PG and Maxi if you want to bring him off the bench he just does a lot of things at a high level man that kind of athlete that can it’s that multifaceted is just a really valuable archetype and you hit on it dude the commitment that we saw UB on the defensive end was phenomenal I’m I’m actually stunned that like what he got over the two years I thought was What U was going to command like per year I thought he was looking at you know 15 mil a year this is insane value for Philadelphia man they crushed this one Eight’s really good value dude and we talk about how Philly clearly lacked a third offensive option and that was a big issue the dude who most consistently stepped up for them was Kelly UB I mean Kelly UB is the guy who gives you 13 a night who actually did shoot well from deep in that playoff series against the Knicks he’s not going to be super consistent there but now the burden on him is just diminished a little bit further I like what Philly’s doing man I like what Philly’s doing a lot I still think that they’re sitting at three in the East for me but the gap between them and the Knicks I mean that’s that’s close dude because now you have two really good Wing Defenders as a tandem on top of your overwhelming scoring Center on top of your awesome perimeter scoring guard UB shooting isn’t super consistent but piji is fantastic there they’re putting together a lot of very intuitive pieces and if Eric Gordon’s coming off the bench then he’s pretty damn good coming off the bench Drummond they’ve improved it backup center I like what they’re doing man I do like what they’re doing okay we’re gonna take a quick break on the other half we’ve got several more signings to talk about after we get you all some quick words from the lovely people actually it’s us speaking to the merits of the lovely people over at DraftKings get ready for a night full of big fights and big action it’s UFC 303 and it can be even bigger jump in on all the action at draftking Sportsbook the official sports betting partner of UFC it’s super easy for first timers to get started try betting on something simple like picking a fighter to win go to the draftking Sportsbook app select your fighter and place your first bet it’s that simple the light heavyweight title is on the line in the main event but there are so many more Amazing matchups happening in Vegas and speaking of amazing if you’re new to DraftKings listen up new customers can bet $5 to get50 in bonus bets instantly download the draftking Sportsbook app now and use code nerds that’s code nerds for new customers to get $150 in bonus bets when you bet just five bucks get that big fight feel only on DraftKings DraftKings the crown is yours so Logan when we look at some of these small midsized wing contracts we just talked about Kelly ub’s $8 million a year for two years we have another one with Naji Marshall signing with the Dallas Mavericks for 3 years 27 interrelated with this dck Jones Jr goes to the Clippers on a threeyear 30 million doll deal let’s start with the Marshall signing for Dallas though and specifically sort of making that swap when you’re talking about pretty similar dollar value between those two options how do you feel this helps them or changes things for them next year Naji Marshall is a good Wing he was kind of buried in the depth chart he didn’t get a ton of PT like in the playoffs just because he’s behind some really great wings and Trey Murphy and Herb Jones he’s a good Defender uh he’s a good shooter you know he’s got a little little bit of playmaking chops like I like Naji Marshall I think it’s a good pickup I probably would have preferred Derrik Jones Jr just because of the vertical uh spacing aspect that he brings how great he was defensively and just how well he compliments Luca I think he’ll work in Los Angeles just because Derrick Jones Jr is a good Wing you know I think he’ll be a good lob threat there too he’ll be great defensively but specifically it’s just such a luxury of playing alongside guys like Luca and Kyrie like that was the best version of Derrick Jones Jr we’re likely ever going to see that’s what I want to emphasize is like that is the most optimized offensive situation for drik Jones Jr across the league so he’ll probably take a step back a little bit in La probably won’t be as great as he was in Dallas he’s still a good Wing but this is a good value signing $9 million a year um is good for Naji Marshall and he’s a good Wing again you’re eliminating the vertical spacing element that you had with Eric Jones Jr but you’re keeping the defense and now you’re getting a little bit of floor spacing so I probably would have preferred them keeping uh DJJ but Naji Marshall’s a solid Wing I think I would have preferred them keeping Derek Jones Jr as well but you also make a great Point Logan that is the best that he’s ever going to look I mean you are never going to have a higher shot quality manufactured for you you’re not going to walk into the skip passing of Luca donic you’re not going to walk into a situation like that OKC Series where it’s like oh you’re blitzing both of our lead ball handlers every time they touch the ball like wow I’m gonna get a lot of wideopen corner threes off of that that is a pretty special level of luxury and obviously when you take away that sort of spoonfed offense DK Jones Jr is much more prone to struggling and he is certainly a more questionable shooter than Nai Marshall now na Marshall had a dramatically improved season he was pretty darn good as a spot-up player this past year but over the course of his career he hasn’t been a and uh the sample size just isn’t that large so I do think the Improvement is real but we’ll kind of see to what extent but I do think he’s a more willing shooter that’s part of the problem with Derrick Jones Jr when you can roam off of him and he’s not even shooting you just saw how brutal it was in the Celtics final series like when KP was on the floor in those minutes and they were able to just have him play Drop where he is guarding drik Jones Jr he’s assigned to him but he’s not actually guarding him he’s leaving him for these above the break threes and he just can’t punish you I get the frustration with that now I do think there’s a lot of little things he does that are awesome I think his offensive rebounding was pretty darn impressive I think his athleticism what that meant as a cutter as you mentioned in transition using him as a screener when Kyrie and and LCA were getting blitzed what he could do as a short roller and then being as awesome as he was defensively the level that he was at as a shot blocking guard again his lengthen athleticism coming into play there a shot blocking Wing I do think he’s probably a slightly better all-around player than Naji Marshall but Naji Marshall does bring you a guy who you’re more confident in as a shooter and an awesome Defender and defensively you get even a little bit more versatility with Naji because he’s bigger because he’s stronger and he also moves really well like you can put him on quick guards I was rewatching some of his defensive possessions like you’re putting him on dearen Fox and he’s holding up well there you’re putting him on a Shifty guard like SGA he’s holding up really well there 67 7-1 wingspan he was a 95th percentile isolation Defender this past year so I’m good with it I think it’s a good move for Dallas I mean I guess it’s mostly a lateral move if Derek Jones Jr wanted to leave you for whatever reason then okay okay you found a good replacement and I do think there’s a ceiling there where it’s like na doesn’t have the same athleticism to unlock but his shot quality is never going to be higher like role players tend to look better alongside Luca donic almost always and I think it’s very possible that that’s going to be the case for Nai and if you look at the level that Derek Jones Jr was at last year in a Luca Dona list World Luca donic list World versus the level that Naji Marshall was at this year in his Luca list World Naji has uh produced more in those Luca list circumstances for the Clippers though Logan how do you like them adding DJJ good Wing uh it’s a good ad for them I mean he’ll have again some of the he’ll have some of the vertical spacing elements for him it’s not going to be as easy alongside Luca but Harden’s a great passer as well um he’s just going to look slightly worse like that’s just kind of my take with Derrick Jones just going to look like probably 80% of what he looked like in Dallas his shots are going to be a little tougher um but this addresses a need for the Clippers right uh this is kind of a smaller team a lot of shooting right they can go to the small ball looks Derrick Jones Jr’s a little bigger one of the better athletes on this roster he brings you some size that you didn’t have it’s a good signing I mean and especially with the level that he reached defensively that’s something that’s not going to go away it’s it’s a good ad at a position of need especially after La basically completely depleted their wing rotation uh you know in making the James Harden deal happen they give away roko they give away Nick Batum that’s been a pretty big week spot for them so it’s it’s an ad at a major position of Need for La yeah I like it in the vacuum I don’t like it so much when you lost PG and I do worry about the inconsistency that you get from him as a shooter because like that’s been such a staple of La strength as a basketball team having really good spot up Shooters alongside their guys and teren Smith man already is kind of like stretching that a little bit right like he is not the most dynamic consistent confident willing three-point shooter and so adding another guy into the fold with a limitation there you know it’s not absolutely perfect it’s not seamless but I think this is good value for Derek Jones Jr I honest think it’s good value for all of these guys all three of these dudes we just talked about getting signed in that 8 to1 million range I think that those are all pretty team Friendly Deals now Lo you know who didn’t want to take A Team friendly deal is Klay Thompson he said screw you Golden State Warriors I don’t care about everything that we’ve done since 2011 you’re not giving me enough skrilla you’re not giving me enough of that good Cold Hard Cash that green and uh maybe that’s what he wants but again now we’re hearing about him potentially taking the mid-level exception to go to the Lakers where do you think clay ends up LA’s interesting I heard a report uh earlier today Lebron called clay so I don’t know maybe the LeBron effect will bring clay to the Lakers LeBron has also reportedly said that he’s willing to take a pay cut if that means they can go and acquire some of the bigger name free agenes on the market I like CL Dallas um uh again we’re talking about wings alongside Luca and Kyrie you’re getting an elite shooter of the basketball whose shot quality would arguably you know be the highest of his career um Steph’s got gravity Steph generates a lot of easy looks for clay but over the past couple years it’s been really difficult it would just add a dimension to Dallas’s offense that would make them so so dangerous if you help off of these guys because you need to slow down Luca and Kyrie well hey guess what we got one of the greatest Shooters of all time sitting wide open or it opens up the other element which is we can’t help off of these guys which is going to open up more isolations for luuka and Kyrie to attack in I just think it would be a win for both sides um I’m surprised he turned down that money I would not be ch at the bit to throw 20 to $25 million at this version of Klay Thompson um I’m surprised he turned down that money from Golden State I 20 million is probably the max that I would be willing to to give clay and I think Dallas is equipped to to do that uh so I would predict Dallas I can see him taking a pay cut in La I I think Dallas just makes a little bit more sense yeah I think Dallas makes more sense as well Denver remains my favorite basketball fit for him I just think offensively Denver is a situation where spot up Shooters and specifically movement Shooters like clay are just set up to thrive man because they’re running actions right they’re constantly incentivizing that sort of movement away from the ball Dallas is a much more stagnant situation and Clay is awesome as a pure spot up shooter right and their spacing value just having him parked in the corner but I do think that he’s at his best when he is involved actively moving like we’re talking about and also it’s like in Denver there would be I think an even clearer hierarchy where it’s like okay you’re not to overexert yourself in this situation over assert yourself whereas in Dallas it’s like well he’s obviously going to be the number three option offensively there I don’t know if you just get some of the more frustrating clay tendencies in terms of shot selection if he’s the most intuitive fit uh but obviously the pure shooting is value also I do worry about the defense there because like who’s taking on those point of attack assignments now unless you’re bringing him off the bench maybe you’re bringing him off the bench maybe you’re starting na Marshall over him but like Clay’s not the guy to do that klay’s not the guy to be your number one perimeter Defender at this point obviously nor is Kyrie or Luca they both have their limitations there still I do think that is a spot that overall makes sense the Lakers just like I don’t know man I think that he do pretty darn well offensively there and uh you could pair him with either DLo or Reeves in that back court and then you have sort of your more pick and roll creating guard and your awesome off ball guard I think that LeBron would create a phenomenal shot quality for clay that’s not bad but I do think he would be able to uh sell himself on a more significant role in Dallas and he’d be able to get paid paid more going to Dallas so it’s going to have to be a sign and trade if it’s to Dallas it’s going to have to be a sign and trade if F to Denver but I don’t think you’re giving up a lot to get clay man I mean I think you’re pretty much giving up matching contracts and like a first maybe I don’t know if you’re Dallas it’s like Maxi kba and whoever else it takes to get in there and a first Clay’s just not that valuable at this stage in his career and that would help Dallas it would you would have to figure out the exact configuration of which lineups you’re getting the best balance of defense and offense but like what was their problem in the finals Logan none of their Supporting Cast players could knock down an open three none of them could knock down an above the break three Klay Thompson is not going to have that problem okay Jonas valent chunis Logan we’ve all been waiting where is Jonas valent chunis the Lithuanian Legend gonna go it ends up being the Washington Wizards that signed him the luckiest guys the Washington Wizards three years 30 million how do you like this yeah kind of weird kind of weird man I mean gives you a little bit of Versatility I guess if you want to run some big body lineups kind of the same thing with Chris Paul too I like his veteran presence here just because the Wizards are such a young directionless franchise I have liked what the Wizards have done this off season they’re three picks SAR kaon George bub Carrington I think can all be complimentary to them I I’ve liked what the Wizards have done this one just puzzled me like I don’t really know uh I don’t know like do you start him do you bring him off the bench somebody’s got to pay him I mean that’s true the value is not bad dude congrats to the Pelicans you’re free of the valent Tunis prison that you were in I think you hit on it this just allows you to get some looks with SAR at the four early in his career where he’s still got to add some size you want him to improve a bit as a rebounder just buys him a little time for that physical maturity like we’ve seen with an Evan Moy I do think that sar’s frame is much more indicative of the potential to continue to add size I also think that he’s already bigger than Moy was but you know he’s still not necessarily the most physically mature five gives you the option long term I do think he’s a five and this isn’t some overpay there’s not a ton more that we need to say about yonas Valen chunis to the Wizards okay we do have some contract extensions today Logan that we can run through quickly one of them we already hinted at James Harden goes back to the clippers for two years 70 million how do you feel about this for La La doesn’t have an option you had to bring Harden back uh the capital that you gave up your timeline yeah I mean you had to bring Harden back it just sucks that you lose PG now man because it’s like now Harden instead of being able to play the three is now going to be your defacto number two not great not great but again it’s not like the Clippers had many options what are you gonna do man let PG and Harden walk um yeah options weren’t great you had to resign Harden yeah and this is a short-term deal this is a totally reasonable perear value like letting PG walk was the mistake to me because at that point it’s like what are you doing what’s the upside here what’s the future look like but James Harden although he has his flaws still had a really good offensive season I mean he was extremely efficient he was really good as a playmaker you were a great basketball team with all your stars on the floor you’re losing one of them now and that’s the problem now James Harden has to be more consistent than he’s capable of at this stage in his career in the playoffs because he doesn’t get to the rim and that’s why as awesome as he was to start the Dallas series then you have just a couple of basically no shows from him right I mean he goes from 33o master class in game four to two of 12 shooting giving you seven points in game five that’s what happens when you don’t create any sort of consistent looks for yourself at The Rim but still a star- level offensive contributor and I think that this is a good move for them to still try to remain a good basketball team but they should have kept PG if they were trying to do that Patrick Williams goes back to the Bulls for five years 90 Millie Logan how do you like this I know a lot of people see the dollar amount with this and see the 90 million and they freak out and their heads turn on fire at the Bulls front office is very dumb but this is the one deal that I actually think that the Bulls off uh front office did a good job with like again I know the bottom dollar like looks insane but sub $20 million for a solid three and D Wing Defender like I think in two to three years we could be looking at this contract and going damn this is a really great value deal um maybe one of the best contracts in in the league I think this is really good value long term for a guy like Patrick Williams just to have him locked up for five years where again in five years he’s going to be making what you know under 20 m i I think it’s I think it’s good value yeah I’m with you you think about how people responded to the Jade McDaniels deal which was bigger than this one and it’s like oh my God you’re playing a role player $25 million a year what are you doing welcome to the new NBA ladies and gentlemen the cap is inflated all of these numbers are not what you’re used to the cap is at $140 million it’s going to continue to increase over the course of this contract and this is going to be a total reasonable contract for a player of Patrick Williams caliber in my opinion it’s a long commitment I don’t think there’s a particularly high ceiling there but I do think he’ll be a quality starter I think that he will be a solid three and D forward that you would be happy to have on your roster I don’t think that this is an overpay okay Obie toppen Logan resigns with the Pacers for fouryear 60 Millie how do you feel about this in a vacuum this is not my favorite contract but but he works in Indiana and so I’ll give him props to that man it’s to stick around in Indiana where the ball moves fast he can be a real weapon in transition set screens he can cut hard like I think in other basketball situations I wouldn’t like this contract but specifically in Indiana this isn’t that bad um I like this deal mutually maybe a little too much money topping maybe just a little too much but he works in Indiana so I don’t hate this deal do think it’s an overpay and part of that is just the market that we’re seeing for a drik Jones Jr right like boy I just think that guy has a better all-around basketball player than Obi who I do think is a Tyrese halberton Merchant who I do think is a Pacers Merchant but you know what man he does produce in this system he’s athletic as hell he can play multiple roles he’s a good Rim finisher he shot the ball really well this past year he obviously has his limitations defensively the shot isn’t something I always trust the most but it was good this year he is a relatively valuable piece of a really Dynamic Pacers offense I do think it’s an overpay I would not want to pay him $15 million a year but it’s not egregious it’s not terrible okay Kate Cunningham Logan signs a fiveyear 226 million extension to the Pistons how do you feel about this you pay Cade whatever he wants I mean I mean this is your franchise Guy this is your only building block uh you build him a statue um you agree premature you agree to whatever demands Kate Cunningham uh makes because you don’t really have any options or any other good basketball players so you pay Kade whatever he wants uh yeah I mean he was always going to get the max like whatever he could uh whatever he could get and Detroit’s smart for paying him man so good for Cade man I’m glad he got his bag I remain a cade Optimist I think that he does have to improve but there’s a lot that he does to me that says lead star guard the pull-up shooting is pretty good uh the playmaking at his size is really quite good the defense when he’s engaged has been really impressive he’s versatile he’s strong he’s long he moves his feet well he can block shots as a non-ball Defender there’s a lot that Kade does quite well and I don’t know that he’s ever going to be one of the League’s elite players but do I think he’ll be one of the League’s 25 30 best players I do and at this point that’s a guy who’s worth paying the Max and he’s a close personal friend of mine we uh ran into each other waiting in line at jungle cruise at Disneyland he actually wasn’t waiting in line he was on a private tour and we talked about this over stoies and I said you’re gonna milk him for everything you can huh Kate and he looked at me with a glint in his eye and he said of course I am so there you go the inside scoop from Carson braber do we want to talk about Max Christie getting extended for four years $32 million not particularly yeah uh to that I say shrug shrug Emoji weirdest thing about free agency Logan I mean I do kind of like Max Christie eight million a year that’s fine I don’t have any problem with that why are W I mean I know why but W tweeting about all of the agents who are getting these deals done you know he’ll tweet the deal and then he’ll quote tweet and he’ll say Nai Marshall’s agent Darren Derek Jackson of unltd Sports Group closed on the deal with GM like come on on man isn’t that soulless you got to fluff your sources that much it’s kind of funny well yeah it’s kind of funny I guess but it’s not supposed to be funny you clearly don’t care I just don’t care that UB Jr’s agent Dave spawn of CA landed on a deal with Daryl Mory late Sunday dude Derek Jackson of unlimited Sports Group Clos the deal with GM Nico Harrison to move Marshall out of New Orleans I know that doesn’t Fascinate You no it does fascinate me and I grew up with djx so I’m happy to see him pull this off we used to go tobogganing together and it was a nice little escape from the harsh d man you even got the nickname yeah that’s djx I mean me and D spawn also we go way back we used to go spelunking together so they’re good guys I’m happy for them they’re getting good stuff done but it’s a bit soulless woe man crazy job that he’s got all right well there’s still some free agents out there to be signed there’s still some news to be broken but we did get a lot done today so hope you guys enjoyed uh the day of news and hope you guys enjoyed our coverage on it if you want more nerd sesh then we have plenty more full shows on our YouTube channel you can listen to the shows across all audio platforms you can check out our trivia content as well which we have in short form across social Tik Tok Instagram nerd Twitter nerd unor SES and long form throughout the summer we are going to have lots of fun guests on trivia and we will have another episode in that vein very shortly with an awesome guest that you guys are going to want to tune into those are super fun so check out our merch if you want at the volume. comom get that hat that Logan’s wearing pluck it right off of his nogin you can join our Discord to chat with the fellas the link to that is at the link tree across our social media bios and if you enjoyed this episode and you are not subscribed please make sure to do so you don’t want to miss out on what we’re doing you don’t want to miss out on all this fun stuff and that will help make sure that you don’t so with that as always appreciate you guys I been Carson braber I have been Logan Camden and this was nerd sash
The nerds react to the first day of NBA Free Agency! They discuss what’s next for Paul George after he has decided to move on from the Los Angeles Clippers, whether the Denver Nuggets are costing Nikola Jokic by allowing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to sign with the Orlando Magic, and if the New Orleans Pelicans improved by adding DeJounte Murray from the Atlanta Hawks.
1 Comment
Right back to tha Super Team Meta. I thought this would change once Denver won. Maybe that's just the fire power you need to win a chip these days